Track-By-Track w/ Arc & Stones And Their Debut EP

“Hey Trina,

So I’m gonna do my best to try and paint a nice picture about each of these songs. Each one is a pretty cool journey and I’d like to take you on them.”

Dan Pellarin, Arc & Stones

This is one aspect of music that excites me because every song is a telling of a story, of a  moment, of an emotion. And one of my most favored interactions with musicians is pulling back the curtain on a song to flesh out the lines and what lies between them.
From Brooklyn, NY comes Arc & Stones, a rock outfit with a full-bodied sound made by Dan Pellarin, Ben Cramer, Joe Doino and Eddy Bayes. What they deliver is aggressive yet accessible, even radio-ready songs waiting to be jammed out for your approval in a club or arena near you. The music is progressive in that it’s a complete package: the instrumentation boasts nimble melodies constructing anthemic and soulful rock offerings served up handsomely by the emotional vehicle of Pellarin’s powerful and flexible voice. Girls will dig it, guys will reap the benefits: a win-win for all.
On February 12th Arc & Stones will release their debut, self-titled five-song EP which is a fairly diverse yet solid representation of what they’re capable of: a sneak peak at the potential. So in advance of the event, here’s learning the heart of those songs from the voice that sings them, track by track.
1. Silence
This song is about the period of blind faith in a certain someone after they have left without letting you know if they cared for you or not, while you have quickly and undoubtedly fallen for them. “Silence” expresses that feeling that you would go to any length to see that someone, talk to that someone, love that someone again…if only for a while.

The period of time when you have given all you can and in return have only received silence, is quite possibly the most painful part of any confusion and eventual realization that this certain someone just doesn’t feel the same way…

“Silence” also expresses…that even though you begin to realize the only stronger force than fear is hope…and with that hope you simply don’t care and want to keep trying, fighting for as long as your heart can take. It’s a fire that burns for however long we let it, for whomever we ignite it for.
As we experience the passion, the confusion, the insanity, we also feel the anger in it all, and “if you can see love, then why can’t you see mine?” is a line that expresses that anger we all know too well. This song was chosen because for us, it is a perfect representation of the paradox that is love, and the painful bliss we keep chasing after.

I showed Ben a very altered version of this minus the chorus which we didn’t change one bit, and decided we loved where it was going and re-worked the verses and bridge. It turned into something magnificent, a real journey, and we couldn’t be more proud of this song.

2. Say Goodbye
“Say Goodbye” expands on the feeling of “Silence.” No matter what happens, the love that you shared with that someone will never fade, and in an essence there is no way you could ever say goodbye to it, and them. As we search “far from the light,” and save “a cut from the stone shaped like a heart,” we can look far beyond the familiar and take what has become seemingly nothing and turn it into something, someday, somewhere. The line “Someday when I can stop chasing someday, can I call you home…” builds upon a thought that maybe when everything is through, and we have done all we can, we can maybe one day call that special someone our own.
Taking the fire symbolized in “Silence,” and building upon the rock that is “Say Goodbye,” a clear picture of emotion is formed. Through it all, we’ll still chase and hope, even if it takes forever.

3. Let Me Down
This one is mainly stating that, “Hey, you can save me all of this trouble, pain, confusion and anger if you just let me know how it is right here, right now. Either you feel something for me or you don’t.” I can’t take being led on and I can’t take questioning everything I do before I do it. “Don’t let me down so easy,” because I’ll still find reason to hope and hurt, and “don’t let me down so slow,” because I can’t bear with all of this just to eventually be kicked to the curb. Why? Because if you lead me on, it’ll turn me into a different person and, possibly, one that neither myself nor anyone else enjoys.

“By breaking me down, you’re building a broken home.”
I hated this one, but still showed it to Ben, and he gave me this look like…are you kidding me? So we re-worked the first verse a bit, recorded it live, and placed it right smack in the middle of the EP. I now love this song because of Ben and [producer] Jeremy Griffith’s help turning this into a beauty. Thank you, dudes.

4. She’s Mine
A boisterous, loud and flat out fun rock song that combines the ideas of a woman, a self-realization that this person doesn’t like what they have become of late, a kick ass party gone wrong, and well some different…things that maybe cause the party to go wrong. The lyrics talk of the extreme highs, “running through my blood, come and take me for a ride,” extreme lows, “but why does every story come crashing down like this,” and the eventual rally cry, “no you won’t take me alive…” of this hard-hitting tornado of a rock and roll party song. Screaming, shouting, and dancing your ass off are encouraged on this one.

Ben and I wanted to a write a seriously hard and fun rock and roll song. I think we broke the most furniture in our small box of an apartment during the time we were writing this one, but it was fitting and necessary.

5. Rise
Rise” for us is an anthem that really hits home. It’s simply about the idea that nothing is impossible, no one can tell you anything is impossible and there is not a single person, idea or obstacle that can restrict you from that thought. It hits home because a lot of people said we couldn’t do what we are doing now and it feels damn good to sing about it.

The chorus states that “We are faces in the water here to wash the pain. Sons and daughters of tomorrow, begging for a name.” This is us and everyone else with this belief saying that the battle is not fought alone. The battle to strive for what you love and believe in is one being fought today in strong company, and there is nothing and no one that can bring this determined belief down. We will claw and fight to be heard, and to be known. Cue the national anthem.

The band couldn’t be more proud of everything that’s been accomplished, and we are so pumped for the future. It’s gonna be a fun road and we hope to make it count where it matters most- with you guys, the listeners.

I imagine many ears appreciating what Arc & Stones have to give, not the least of which is that delicious guitar in “Say Goodbye.” So now you that you know, seek out these gentlemen of heartfelt yet dynamic-in-the-making rock and roll (and disarming good looks) in the usual socially interactive places. And also in 2013 look for them to make themselves heard well outside of their NYC comfort zone.
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